The background of this invention will address measuring tapes, and separately, larger fluid containers. There is no indication that anyone has incorporated measuring tape mechanisms with medicinal fluid containers, or vice versa, that anyone has incorporated any type of fluid containers with any type of measuring tape mechanisms.
The goals of the present invention are not readily apparent from the prior art uses of measuring tapes, or separately, fluid containers; and, the synergies achieved by incorporation of the useful, but unused, space in a measuring tape mechanism, to hold and maintain fluids, particularly medicinal fluids for human consumption, is not readily apparent from the prior art. The goals achieved by the present invention are unrecognized, unrealized and not readily predictable as shown by a survey of the prior art measuring tape and fluid container art.
Measuring Tapes
A tape measure or measuring tape is a flexible ruler that consists of a ribbon of cloth, plastic, fiber glass, or metal strip with linear-measurement markings. The first record of a people using a measuring device was the Romans, who used marked strips of leather to perform measurements. Later, tape measures intended for use in tailoring or dressmaking were made from flexible cloth or plastic, but these types of tape measures were mainly used for the measuring of the human's waist line. The basic design on which many modern spring tape measures are built can trace its origins back to an 1868 patent, U.S. Pat. No. 79,965, by a resident of New Haven, Conn., Mr. A. J. Fellows. Fellows' rule, although crude and flimsy, was the first attempt to make a spring tape measure. A spring tape measure has existed since Fellows' patent in 1868, but its usage did not become very popular due to the difficulty in communication from one town to another.
In the early 1900's, carpenters began slowly adopting H. A. Farrand's design as the one more commonly used, which is the design all modern tape measures use today. On Jan. 3, 1922, Hiram A. Farrand received the patent he filed in 1919 for his spring tape measure. Sometime between 1922 and Dec. 1926, Farrand experimented with the help of The Brown Company in Berlin, New Hampshire, and Hiram and William Wentworth Brown began mass-producing the tape measure, which was a product later sold to Stanley Works.
Measuring tapes designed for carpentry or construction often use a stiff, curved metallic ribbon that can remain stiff and straight when extended outwardly, but retracts into a coil for convenient storage. This type of tape measure can provide both inside and outside measurements that are accurate, and the tape measure can extend 25 or even 100 feet. It can also be wound into a relatively small container.
A self-marking tape measure allows the user to accurately measure a distance with a one handed measurement. Some tapes sold in the United States have additional marks in the shape of small black diamonds, which appear every 19.2 inches (48.77 cm). These additional marks are used to indicate equal spacing for joists in a roof construction where five joists or trusses per 8-foot (243.8 cm) length of building material is a standard configuration. Many measuring tapes also have special markings every 16 inches (40.6 cm), which is a standard interval for studs in construction. Three spaces of 16 inches make exactly 4 feet (121.9 cm) which is the commercial width of a sheet of plywood, gyprock or particle board.
Dual scale tapes have been commonly sold in the United States. For example, in some Walmarts there are Hyper Tough brand tapes available in US customary units and Metric units. Tape measures sold in the UK often have dual scales for metric and imperial units. Like the American tape measures described above, they also have markings every 16 in (40.6 cm) and 19.2 in (48.8 cm). And, tape measures sold in Canada often have dual scales for metric and imperial units. All tapes in imperial units have markings every 16 in (40.6 cm), but not at every 19.2 in (48.8 cm).
The design of the modern measuring tape allows for easy measurement of a great length by devices that can be carried in a pocket or toolkit, which also permits one to measure around curves or corners. Measuring tapes have also been made of fiberglass, which does not tear or stretch as easily. Tapes are used in surveying for measuring horizontal, vertical or slope distances, and tapes are issued in various lengths and widths and graduated in variety of ways.
The measuring tapes used for surveying purposes are classified in 4 types according to the material from which they are manufactured: (1) Linen or Cloth Tape made of linen cloth with brass handle at zero end whose length is included in the tape length—these tape measures are very light and handy, but cannot withstand much wear and tear so they should not be used for accurate work, except for taking subsidiary measurements like offsets; (2) Metallic Tape reinforced with copper wires to prevent stretching or twisting of fibers, which are available in many lengths but tapes of 20 m and 30 m are more commonly used; (3) Steel Tape made of steel ribbon varying in width from 6 mm to 16 mm and available in lengths of 1, 2, 10, 30 and 50 meters, but these measuring tapes cannot withstand rough usage and therefore it should be used with great care; and, (4) Invar Tape made of an alloy of steel (64%) and nickel (36%), usually 6 mm wide and lengths of 30 m, 50 m and 100 m., but this measuring tape is more expensive and delicate requiring that it be handled with great care.
With the mass production of the integrated circuit (IC) the tape measure has also entered into the digital age with the digital tape measure. Some of the latest measuring tapes incorporate a digital screen to give measurement readouts in multiple formats. There are also other styles of tape measures that have incorporated lasers and ultrasonic technology to measure the distance of an object with fairly reliable accuracy.
Fluid Containers
First attested in English in the 14th century, the word bottle derives from Old French boteille, which comes from vulgar Latin butticula, itself from late Latin buttis meaning “cask”, which is perhaps the latinisation of the Greek Boũis (bouttis), “vessel”. Most fluid containers are singular use bottles, which are rigid containers with a neck that is narrower than the body and a mouth. By contrast, a jar has a relatively large mouth or opening, which may be as wide as the overall container. Bottles are often made of glass, clay, plastic, aluminum or other impervious materials, and typically used to store liquids such as water, milk, soft drinks, beer, wine, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo, ink, and chemicals. A device applied in the bottling line to seal the mouth of a bottle is termed an external bottle cap, closure, or internal stopper.
The bottle has developed over millennia of use, with some of the earliest examples appearing in China, Phoenicia, Rome and Crete. Bottles tend to be used only to hold liquids, but bottles can be reused for that purpose many times over as bottles are often recycled and used again and again for that purpose. Glass has all the qualities required for long-term storage of a liquid.
The glass bottle was an important development in the history of wine because, when combined with a high-quality cork stopper, the bottle permitted the wine to be stored over a long period of time—which promoted the long-term aging of wine. Glass bottles eventually gave rise to “château bottling,” the practice where an estate's wine is put in a bottle at the source of the wine production, rather than by a merchant further down the supply line. Prior to this practice, wine would be sold by the barrel (or amphora containers) and put into bottles only at the merchant's shop or sold without bottling at the merchant's shop. By not requiring the bottling of wine at the source of wine production, there was a much greater opportunity for abuse, fraud and adulteration of the wine product. Moreover, when merchants sold unbottled wine, they were often confronted with oxidation or contamination hazards, which could lead to unfavorable variations in the taste of the wine. To avoid these problems, most fine wine is bottled at the place of production.
There are many sizes and shapes of bottles, particularly those used for wine. Some of the known shapes: (1) “Bordeaux”: This bottle is roughly straight sided with a curved “shoulder” that is useful for catching sediment and is also the easiest to stack. Traditionally used in Bordeaux but now worldwide, this is probably the most common type. (2) “Burgundy”: Traditionally used in Burgundy, this has sides that taper down about ⅔ of the height to a short cylindrical section, and does not have a shoulder. (3) “Champagne”: Traditionally used for Champagne, it is similar to a Burgundy bottle, but with a wider base and heavier due to the pressurization.
In 1872, British soft drink maker Hiram Codd of Camberwell, London, designed and patented a bottle designed specifically for use in holding carbonated drinks. The Codd-neck bottle was designed and manufactured to enclose a marble and a rubber washer/gasket in the neck. The bottles were filled upside down, and pressure of the gas in the bottle forced the marble against the washer, sealing in the carbonation. The bottle was pinched into a special shape to provide a chamber into which the marble was pushed to open the bottle, which prevented the marble from blocking the neck as the drink was poured. Soon after its introduction, the bottle became extremely popular with the soft drink and brewing industries, mainly in Europe, Asia and Australasia, though some alcohol drinkers disdained the use of the bottle. The Codd-neck design is still used for the Japanese soft drink Ramune and in the Indian drink called Banta.
Plastic bottles are typically used to store liquids such as water, soft drinks, motor oil, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo, milk, and ink. The plastic is strain oriented in the stretch blow molding manufacturing process, and the size of plastic bottles ranges from very small sample bottles to large carboys. The main advantage plastic bottles have over glass bottles is their superior resistance to breakage, in both production and transportation.
A canteen is a drinking water bottle designed to be used by hikers, campers, soldiers and workers in the field. It is usually fitted with a shoulder strap or means for fastening it to a belt, and may be covered with a cloth bag and padding to protect the bottle and insulate the contents. If the padding is soaked with water, evaporative cooling can help keep the contents of the bottle cool, and many canteens also include a nested canteen cup.
Primitive canteens were sometimes made of hollowed-out gourds, such as a calabash, or were bags made of leather. Later, canteens consisted of a glass bottle in a woven basket cover, with the bottle usually closed with a cork stopper. Designs of the mid-1900s were made of metal—tin-plated steel, stainless steel or aluminum—with a screw cap, the cap frequently being secured to the bottle neck with a short chain or strap to prevent loss. These canteens were an improvement over glass bottles, but were subject to developing pinhole leaks if dented, dropped or bumped against jagged rocks.
Contemporary canteen designs are almost exclusively made of one of several types of plastics, especially polyethylene or polycarbonate. They are typically as light as, or lighter than, their metal equivalents and are quite resistant to developing leaks, even when dropped or severely bumped. Hunter-gatherers in the Kalahari use ostrich eggshell as water containers in which they puncture a hole to enable them to be used as canteens. The presence of such eggshells dating from the Howiesons Poort period of the Middle Stone Age at Diepkloof Rock Shelter in South Africa suggests canteens were used by humans as early as 60,000 years ago.
A waterskin is a receptacle used to hold water. Though it may have been used over 5000 years ago by tribal peoples, the first pictures of it are from ancient Assyrians, who used the bladders as floats in 3000 B.C. It was also used by large ancient empires such as Rome before the advent of the canteen. Normally made of a sheep or cow bladder, it retains water naturally and therefore was very useful in desert crossings until the invention of the canteen, and it is still used in some developing nations.
Modern waterskins or bota bags are often made of various plastic or rubber impregnated canvases, or sometimes simply thicker transparent plastics, and are often called water-pouches, water bags, or water bladders. Such modern waterskins offer many features, such as detachable straw-hoses, valves, refill openings of various widths, various closures and handles, styles of covering or cases, and removable cases or carry pouches.
A bota bag or wineskin is a traditional Spanish liquid receptacle that is typically made of leather, and is typically used to carry wine. The zahato [ahato] is the traditional goatskin bottle of the Basque shepherds. With its narrow nozzle, it is possible to drink “zurrust”, i.e. intercepting the jet without touching the end of the bottle with your mouth.
The zahato is made of two pieces of tanned and close-cropped goatskin. Softened, the two pieces are cut out and sewn on their sides, then, the bottle is turned up, seam and hair turned to the inside. After drying, it is inflated, then coated with pitch to make it impermeable. The nozzle is fixed to the skin by a red collar, and the zahato is carried across the shoulder with the red cord which surrounds it along the seam.
Similar to wrist watches, the hip flask began to appear in the form it is recognized today in the 18th century, initially used by members of the gentry. However, less compact versions had been in production for several centuries. Antique hip flasks, particularly those made of silver, are now sought-after collector's items. The hip flask is popular as a commemorative item, often being engraved. The Modern Drunkard Magazine describes the engraved flask as the best present one can give. The engravings may be a short quote, the recipient's initials, toasts, dates of memorable occasions, or signs of friendship.
Hip flasks have been made of pewter, silver, or even glass, though most modern flasks are made from stainless steel. Some modern flasks are made of plastic so as to avoid detection by metal detectors. Hip flasks can vary in shape, although they are usually contoured to match the curve of the wearer's hip or thigh for comfort and discretion in a design also known as a kidney flask. Some flasks have “captive tops” which is a small arm that attaches the top to the flask in order to stop it from getting lost when it is taken off.
The above background of this invention describes many variations of beverage holders and fluid containers, none of these fluid containers provide for an effective placement in a measuring tape enclosure or the more efficient use of previously unused space in the measuring container enclosure. The prior are has no indication of anyone incorporating a measuring tape mechanisms with medicinal fluid containers, or vice versa, that anyone has incorporated any type of fluid containers with any type of measuring tape mechanisms.
There is a long-felt, but unfulfilled need, to store fluids in an efficient and effective manner without requiring two separate vessels or components, and there is a long-felt, but unfulfilled need to incorporate a useful fluid vessel in previously unused space in a measuring tape mechanism. There is also a long-felt, but unfulfilled need, to store hydration or medicinal fluids in a more efficient and effective manner on construction or work sites.